Lippia alba plant named ‘Bhurakshak’

ABSTRACT

A new and distinct mutant plant of  Lippia alba  called ‘Bhurakshak,’ characterized by novel aroma of the oil constituting 7.2% 1, 8 cineole, 42.3% linalool, 12.9% citral (b) and 14.2% citral (a) as a major terpenoids, and having a unique RAPD profile as shown in FIG.  1  of the drawings.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The invention relates to a new and distinct mutant plant of Lippia albanamed ‘Bhurakshak’ characterized by its aroma has been developed. Theplant possesses a novel aroma combining linalool, citral a and citral bas the major constituents in its oil.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a new and distinct chemotype of Lippiaalba, a member of the family Verbenaceae. The genus Lippia is known toconsist of about 200 species of herbs, shrubs and small trees, widelydistributed in tropical to semi-temperate areas of America, Africa andAsia. Materials in various forms and essential oils of Lippia specieshave been used in the traditional medicine and control of pestinfestations in food grains. Specific strains are recognized asresources of several commercially important terpenoid compounds.

Certain Lippia alba wild populations and their cultivated clones havebeen reported to yield essential oils rich in linalool or terpenoidssuch as citral and cineole closely related to linalool (Terblanche andKornelius, 1996. J. Essent. Oil. Res., 8: 471-485). A new chemotype isdeveloped through mutation breeding which has all the four constituentsin appreciable amounts to give a novel aroma, which can find wider usagein the cosmetic and soap industry.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a new and distinct mutant plant of Lippiaalba called ‘Bhurakshak’, characterized by novel aroma of the oilconstituting 7.2% 1,8 cineole, 42.3% linalool, 12.9% citral (b) and14.2% citral (a) as a major terpenoids, and having a unique RAPD profileas shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The new chemotype of Lippia alba named ‘Bhurakshak’ has been developedthrough a planned mutation breeding program conducted at CentralInstitute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Lucknow with an aim tocreate genotypes with novel aroma suitable for cosmetic and soapindustry. For this purpose, a spreading shrub variety ‘Kavach’ of Lippiaalba which can be grown on waste land, ravines and slopes to check soilerosion, was selected for mutation breeding. A total of 17,700 singlenodal stem cuttings were y-irradiated with different doses (1 kR to 5kR) during July, 1999. Out of the 3641 surviving plants, 1360 werevisually selected after smelling and hydrodistilled in clevenger'sapparatus during October 1999.

A plant with number CIMAP/L-640 possessing a novel aroma has beenidentified with 1,8 cineole (9.6%), linalool (41.7%), citral b (13.5%),and citral a (15.3%) in its essential oil as the major terpenoids. TheGC on oil sample was performed using varian gas chromatograph modelCX-3400 under the following conditions carrier gas hydrogen, injectorand detector temperatures 220° and 225° C., respectively; capillarycolumn (supelcovax-10, 30 m×0.3 mm, film thickness 0.20 μm); and oventemperature programmed from 80-150° C. @ 5° C./min., then 215° C. @ 7°C./min. The area percentage were obtained on Varian 4400 integrator.This selected plant was multiplied through stem cuttings during thefirst week of November, 1999. Out of the 14 plants, five randomlyselected plants were hydrodistilled in the first week of February 2000and analyzed for its oil constituents on Gas Chromatograph followingsimilar conditions of GLC. The percentage of major terpenoids in theessential oil were similar to that of the parent mutant plant having 1,8cineole 7.2%, linalool 42.3%, citral a 14.2% and citral b 12.9%confirming its true breeding behavior.

EVIDENCE OF UNIFORMITY AND STABILITY

The mutant genotype L-640 has remained stable and uniform for itsmorphological characters and showed consistency in performance for itsoil quality attributes during its evaluation and vegetativemultiplication.

TYPE AND FREQUENCY OF VARIANTS DURING REPRODUCTION AND MULTIPLICATION

No variant had been found among the progeny during multiplicationthrough vegetative multiplication.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a RAPD profile of ‘Bhurakshak.’

FIG. 2 shows a close up of the flowering shoot of ‘Bhurakshak.’

STATEMENT OF DISTINCTION

The genotype CIMAP/L-640 (‘Bhurakshak’) possesses a unique novel aromacombining 1,8 cineole (7.2%), linalool (42.3%), citral a (14.2%) andcitral b (12.9%) altogether. No other Lippia alba genotype has beenreported to possess these terpenoids in this proportion to give aspecial novel aroma. A typical RAPD profile of ‘Bhurakshak’ generated by13 primers whose decamer sequences are given in FIG. 1 was generated,which clearly distinguished the genotype from existing accessions ofLippia alba was established and is given in FIG. 1.

OBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION OF THE MUTANT CLONE L-640 (‘BHURAKSHAK’)

1. Genus: Lippia.

2. Species: Alba.

3. Family: Verbenaceae.

4. Plant height (cm): 70-80.

5. Growth: Spreading shrub, much branched.

6. Stem: Hard, brownish green.

7. Stem diameter (cm) (at 5th-6th node): 0.8.

8. Leaf: Ovate-oblong or elliptic-oblong, leaf tip acute, margin finelyserrate, base truncate, softly strigose, olderleaves dark green andyounger ones light or pale green, size: length 3-10 cm and width 2-5 cm.(FIG. 2).

9. Leaf/stem ratio: 0.38.

10. Inflorescence: Flower sessile arranged in axillary dense capitatespikes, corolla light purple, pink or violetish with yellow throat.

11. Fruits: Globose, dry, splitting into two 1-seeded pyrenes.

12. Oil content in the fresh herbage (%): 0.14.

13. Active constituents in the essential oil (%):

1,8 cineole.—7.2.

Linalool.—42.3.

Terpinen- 4 -ol.—1.1.

Citral b (neral).—12.9.

Citral a (geranial).—14.2.

Geranyl acetate.—1.9.

Geraniol.—1.0.

14. Seed length (mm): 1.9.

15. Seed width (mm): 1.0.

16. Seed color: Green group (137B).

17. Length of flower (cm): 1.43.

18. Diameter of flower: 0.73.

19. No. of leaves/branches: 28.

20. No. of branches/plant: 2.

21. Leaf texture: Rough.

22. Arrangement of leaves: Opposite.

23. Length of branches and stem (cm): 142.3.

24. Internode length (cm): 10.2.

25. Stem:

a. Texture.—Rough.

b. Diameter (cm).—0.8.

26. Petiole length (cm): 0.68.

27. Color of upper surface of leaf: Green group (137C).

28. Color of lower surface of leaf: Green group (138B).

All references to color herein refer to The Royal Horticultural SocietyChart. The green foliage, i.e., the leaves and the stem, of the plantare used to obtain the essential oil. Cuttings of the plant establish insoil within a week.

ADDITIONAL DESCRIPTION OF THE STRAIN

The mutant clone possesses a novel aroma with oil constituents which areintermediate between the two other accessions in collection.

TABLE 1 Major terpenoids in the essential oil of available accessionsincluding parent plant and the mutant clone. Active constituents LAC-2New mutant Sl. No. in the oil LAC-1 Parent clone Clone L-640 1. 1,8Cineole 0.5 5.0 7.2 2. Linalool 1.3 64.9 42.3 3. Terpinen-4-ol 1.1 2.51.1 4. Citral b (neral) 20.3 1.7 12.9 5. Citral a (geranial) 28.2 2.014.2 6. Geranyl acetate 0.3 0.6 1.9 7. Geraniol 1.8 3.7 1.0

The mutant genotype CIMAP/L-640 (‘Bhurakshak’) was bred at the CentralInstitute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CUVIAP), Lucknow, Indiaunder the genetic improvement program on Lippia. The mutant genotype wasbred from a parent plant christened ‘Kavach’. The parent plant Kavachwas released by Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants(CIMAP), Lucknow, India and is now in the public domain. The plantmaterial of ‘Kavach’ (parent plant) is also made available to the publicthrough National Gene Bank of CIMAP. CIMAP is a non-profit GovernmentalOrganization having the facility for multiplying the plant material andthere is no restriction to the access and supply of the plant materialof the parent plant. The parent plant Kavach is not patented.

The distinct mutant plant of Lippia Alba named “Bhurakshak” is plantedduring the month of July when the maximum temperature remains between35-42° C. under hot and sunny conditions and the minimum temperaturebetween 27-32° C. The cuttings after gamma-rays treatment are plantedimmediately and the cuttings establish in the soil within a week by thegrowth of roots and the plants grow thereafter. The plants are grown byasexual reproduction through stem cutting, in the farm of CentralInstitute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP), Lucknow, India.

Bhurakshak has the following botanical characteristics:

a) Flowers: Bracteate, sessile, complete, zygomorphic, pentamorous,hypogynous and cyclio.

b) Calyx: Five sepals and gamosepalous.

c) Corolla: Five petals, gamopetalous, bilipped(4/1), coronary outgrowthpresent at the throat of corolla.

d) Androecium: Four stamens, didynamous, epipetalous, polyandrous,dorsifixed situated at the throat of corolla and discrete.

e) Gynoccium: Bicarpellary, syncarpous, ovary superior, bilocular withone ovule in each locule, axile placenta, terminal style and capitatestigma.

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We claim:
 1. A new and distinct variety of Lippia alba plant,substantially as illustrated and described